INDIANAPOLIS – On Sunday, October 25, the Colts collaborated with HopeLine from Verizon to host the 2015 Cell Phone Collection prior to the Colts vs. Saints game. For two hours prior to kickoff, volunteers from Verizon and Coburn Place collected used cell phones and accessories as well as cash to benefit Coburn Place Safe Haven.
Colts fans dropped off hundreds of items before entering Lucas Oil Stadium, as buckets at the Colts Community Collection Stations, presented by Toyota, were filled with phones and accessories. Volunteers were also able to raise nearly $700 in monetary donations. Each fan who donated either items or cash received a Coburn Place Safe Haven koozie along with a light-up, "I gave hope today" button from Verizon.
This was the second annual HopeLine from Verizon Cell Phone Collection drive in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month to benefit Coburn Place Safe Haven, an Indianapolis organization that has growing waiting lists for families in need of transitional housing. The Colts and HopeLine from Verizon pledged $10,000, and HopeLine from Verizon has a goal this year to collect 1 million phones nationally.
"Coburn Place wouldn't exist to offer safe and secure housing with access to meaningful resources without donations like these," said Julia Kathary, president and executive director of Coburn Place. Last year, 31,779 days of safe housing were provided to 65 adults and 112 children at Coburn Place, while another 158 were on a waiting list for housing while receiving other support services.
Cell phones given to HopeLine are refurbished, generating proceeds for the program through both cash grants and phones to those who need help. Refurbished phones – complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service and text-messaging service – are provided to local domestic violence agencies or local government and law enforcement agencies for use with their domestic violence clients. If donated phones are unsalvageable, they are recycled in an environmentally sound way under a zero landfill policy.
"Verizon relies on the generosity of Hoosiers, Colts fans and other supporters during Domestic Violence Awareness Month to extend our HopeLine grants to Indiana nonprofits," said Lauren Love-Wright, Verizon region president for Indiana. "In the past year, we've been able to provide nearly $180,000 in support for groups that support survivors of domestic violence."
Colts fans who may have additional items can still contribute and donate cell phones or accessories at any Verizon store. Fans may also show support for the Colts Gameday Collection Program and Domestic Violence Awareness by utilizing social media. Fans can follow @HopeLineVerizon on Twitter, @ColtsCommunity on Twitter and Instagram or 'Colts in the Community' on Facebook, searching the hashtag #VZHopeLineIN.
The Colts Gameday Collections program will continue to run throughout the 2015 season with a different charitable collection held prior to each home game. Upcoming collections include the Angle Tree Holiday Drive, Sacking Hunger, and Books for Youth. A complete list of future collections and more information is available at www.colts.com/collections.
All donations went to help Coburn Place Safe Haven provide local domestic violence victims with refurbished phones including a service plan.
About Coburn Place Safe Haven **
The vision of Coburn Place Safe Haven is of a world where every adult and child may live free from intimate partner violence, housed stably and safely, with adequate financial resources. It aims to make that vision reality through its mission of empowering victims of intimate partner violence to live as survivors. Coburn Place is Indianapolis' largest and most comprehensive provider of transitional housing to victims of domestic violence in the state of Indiana and is a nationally-recognized model program in breaking the cycles of domestic violence, poverty, and homelessness. The organization has provided life-changing support to more than 1,600 adults and children since 1996.
About HopeLine from Verizon
HopeLine® from Verizon puts our technology and the nation's most reliable and largest wireless network to work in the community by turning no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories into support for domestic violence victims and survivors. It also helps protect the environment by disposing of wireless phones in an environmentally sound way.
